Winter shelter faces new hurdles

MARIN'S WINTER shelter program for the homeless, which is operated by local churches and synagogues with funding from the Marin Community Foundation, is facing new challenges this year.

The program, which began Thursday, has had to adjust to the city of San Rafael's new "quality of life" initiative, which was developed largely in reaction to complaints from downtown businesses about misbehavior by homeless individuals.

In past years, people seeking emergency shelter for the night have gathered at the St. Vincent de Paul Society's Free Dining Room at 820 B St. in San Rafael for transport to whichever church or synagogue was welcoming them that night. The participating houses of worship provide housing on a rotating basis.

The "quality of life" initiative, however, includes an edict that participants no longer gather there.

San Rafael City Manager Nancy Mackle has said its "too much for the downtown to handle."

In addition to this new wrinkle, the program's organizers have been unable so far to find a church or synagogue willing to provide housing on Thursday nights on a regular basis.

The Sleepy Hollow Presbyterian Church in San Anselmo housed the male participants when the program kicked off last Thursday and will do so again for the next two weeks; but the church is too small to meet the needs of the program on an ongoing basis.

Jilliane Robinson, a Sleepy Hollow Presbyterian elder, said her small church is only large enough for 20 people to sleep on its floor. The program is designed to accommodate a maximum of 40 men and 20 women per night; for the second year running women will be housed at the county of Marin's Health and Wellness Campus at 3240 Kerner Blvd. in San Rafael.

Stephen "Walker" Bonspille, who helps oversee administration of the winter shelter program, said, "I haven't exhausted my list of people to call yet, although I'm getting on toward the bottom. I still have some places to turn. I'm pretty confident we'll find someone to take that Thursday night slot."

Bonspille, who was once homeless himself, said the prohibition against picking up participants at the St. Vincent De Paul dining room "has made it a little tricky for us."

Under the new plan, people seeking shelter must come to the dining room between noon and 2 p.m. to register. They will be told then where the pick-up spots will be that night. Bonspille said the locations will vary to prevent large groups of homeless individuals from congregating, which might result in complaints from neighbors.

The effort to minimize the visibility of the homeless to the general public is not entirely new to the program. This year, 30 Marin houses of worship will participate in the program, providing an evening meal for participants and other volunteer assistance; only eight, however, will house homeless men in their facilities, and program organizers shy away from identifying them for fear that neighbors will object.

"We've been doing this for five years now without a problem and still some people will complain," said Christine Paquette, director of development at St. Vincent de Paul.

Keeping Marin's homeless out of sight is an increasingly difficult task, however, given the numbers involved.

When the last government-mandated count was conducted in January 2011, there were 1,220 homeless people in Marin and another 4,103 individuals classified as "precariously housed" — people who are facing eviction, living in severely overcrowded housing with no other options or who are "couch surfing."

Last year, the winter shelter program served 416 people, up from 220 the year before.

Mary Kay Sweeney, Homeward Bound's executive director, said, "We're always relieved when the winter program opens because it takes the pressure off of Mill Street."

Homeward Bound is the nonprofit that supplies the county's only permanent housing for the homeless. It has 55 beds for single adults at its Mill Street Center in San Rafael and another 80 beds at its New Beginnings Center in Novato. It also has accommodations for 14 families. To get a bed at New Beginnings, people seeking shelter must first gain entry to Mill Street.

Sweeney said Homeward Bound lacks the space to house all of the county's homeless and regularly has to turn people away.

Davina Jeffrey, 61, who took advantage of the winter shelter program Thursday night, said, "Mill Street is always full, especially when the weather is bad."

Jeffrey said she has been sleeping outdoors since a friend who was letting her sleep on his couch moved away.

"I've been camping wherever I can," Jeffrey said. "You have to be sneaky and find a place that is out of the way."

Jeffrey said a homeless friend of hers was recently issued a ticket for camping after he fell asleep laying on his sleeping bag in the park.

A key component of San Rafael's "quality of life" initiative has been increased police patrols and enforcement of minor infractions such as jaywalking, drinking alcohol from open containers and urinating in public in the downtown area.

John Cefalu, 52, who slept at Sleepy Hollow Presbyterian on Thursday night, said often police question him because he is carrying a backpack.

"It's embarrassing when people are walking by and you have two police officers next to you when you never had a police officer next to you in your entire 52 years of being alive," Cafalu said. "You're not causing harm. You're just homeless."

Cefalu, a tax accountant who has lived in Marin since 2000, said he has been sleeping outdoors without even a sleeping bag or a warm coat for the last two weeks after being discharged from a recovery program for alcoholics.

"I can't live outside in this weather at my age," Cefalu said. He has Type 1 diabetes and is in the late stages of hepatitis C. He has recently weathered several bouts of bronchitis and pneumonia and spent five weeks in the intensive care unit at Marin General Hospital.

Another program participant Thursday, Jim Fox, said he was recently issued a citation for drinking in public.

Fox said he has been homeless since the building in Sleepy Hollow where he rented a room for $500 was foreclosed on a year ago.

He said he relied on the county's emergency winter shelter program last year.